Meet the RN to BSN Faculty
Diane Rankin
MSN, MACE, RN – RN-to-BSN Faculty
As a nurse for more than 50 years, Diane Rankin, a clinical instructor in the UTEP College of Nursing’s RN-to-BSN program, has shared her extensive knowledge and clinical expertise to prepare generations of well-educated and highly effective nurses.
After earning a bachelor’s in nursing in 1965, Ms. Rankin began her nursing career at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Great Lakes, Illinois. For 10 years, Ms. Rankin worked as a charge nurse and a staff nurse in hospitals in Japan, Iowa and Missouri.
Ms. Rankin transitioned into a career as a nurse educator in 1975, first as an instructor and assistant professor at the Prestonsburg Community College in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. Over the next 40 years, she taught at Purdue Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é in West Lafayette, Indiana, Our Lady of the Lake College of Nursing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, Florida. Ms. Rankin joined UTEP in 2004 and has taught in the RN-to-BSN program since 2011.
Ms. Rankin holds a Master of Adult and Continuing Education degree from Morehead State Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é and a Master of Nursing degree from Louisiana State Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é Medical Center.
Audrey Tolouian
Ed.D., RN – RN-to-BSN Faculty
Audrey Cooper Tolouian, Ed.D., has been a member of the UTEP College of Nursing faculty since 2008. After teaching as a clinical instructor in the school’s traditional nursing program for five years, Dr. Tolouian transitioned from the classroom setting to teaching online in UTEP’s RN-to-BSN program in 2013.
Dr. Tolouian earned an associate degree from Naugatuck Valley Community College and a bachelor’s in social work from Trinity College in Burlington, Vermont. She holds a Master of Science in Nursing degree and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from the Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Phoenix.
With more than 20 years social work, nursing and teaching experience, Dr. Tolouian serves as a role model for practicing nurses in the RN-to-BSN program, providing them with the expert knowledge, guidance and support they need to succeed as baccalaureate-prepared registered nurses.
Janise Tinsman, DNP, RN
RN to BSN Director
Clinical Assistant Professor
Dr. Janise Tinsman began her nursing career as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1986. The positions she held were primarily in long-term care with a few months at a state school in Idaho, and a year on the rehab floor of a regional medical center. Dr. Tinsman obtained an Associate of Science in Nursing degree in 1991 from Boise State Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (BSN) in 2008 from the Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Her clinical experience is quite varied and includes medical-surgical, cardiac step down, cardiac rehab, oncology and float pool experience that covered these units as well as the pulmonary, nephrology, neurology, and orthopedic units. Dr. Tinsman began her career in nursing education in 2013 as a BSN mentor in the BSN program at Tarleton State Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é in Stephenville, Texas. She enjoyed working with the upcoming generation of nurses so much that she obtained a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree in Education in 2016 and Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Leadership from Liberty Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é in 2019. After obtaining a master’s degree, Dr. Tinsman worked in the Associate of Science in Nursing program for Ranger College in Brownwood Texas from June 2016-May 2020. She joined UTEP as the director of the RN to BSN program in 2020 after completing her DNP.